Thursday, August 28, 2014

Fourth in a chronological series of 11 digital only remastered releases (6 solo (5 augmented with bonuses, lives and remixes), 1 duo, 1 unreleased duo and 3 pots-pourris (with absolutely every tunes possible ever recorded by Pierre and never released)) and coming at the pace of one every month is the fabulous first duo album from Pierre Vervloesem and John Litton Baroï: Zala Zala (2001).

John, a Bengladesh native, started to study singing when he was 8 years old under the monitoring of Indian singer Bobech Chaterjee. He also learned to play the traditional Indian harmonium to go along with his singing.

John played with quite an impressive amount of musicians in Bengladesh before immigrating in Europe in the beginning of the 90ties.

John started then to play with various jazz ensemble, trying to modernize his playing and also trying to bring back the traditionally Bengali folk music.

This was precisely the perfect time to meet Pierre.

The result: Zala Zala, an album that mixes with subtlety west and east instruments, modern beats and tradition, pulse and emotion, never loosing his Asian roots.

All songs written and composed by John Litton Baroï All arrangements and producing by Pierre Vervloesem

What the BBC wrote at the time, considering Zala Zala as one of the best world record of 2001:

"Before you know it you've played it five times in a row and have started scouring the..."Chris Jones2002"Every once in a while an album comes along which, while never destined to change the course of musical history or cause a furore in the press, crawls softly into your heart to nestle there like a treasured teddy bear. You play it once and it's inoffensive at best. You play it twice and you begin sway as an irresistibly "warm vibe" begins to fill you. Before you know it you've played it five times in a row and have started scouring the sleevenotes for any kind of clue as to who's managed to effortlessly steal your soul. Which is where Zala Zala falls down. Unless you're a student of Belgian avant prog or know your Bangladeshi singers off by heart you'll be hard-pressed to glean much about this sly little beauty. Enlightenment was ever a hard road to travel.

Pierre Vervloesem, as you all no doubt know, is a Belgian guitarist of some note (probably an E flat, heh heh) whose previous work with prog jazz noiseniks X-Legged Sally was always a little more challenging than the stuff on offer here. Lifted by a rhythm section that provides what can only be described as a kind of world-dub fusion, Baroi's astoundingly expressive vocals and Vervloesm's genre-straddling guitar are coaxed to ecstatic heights. It matters not one jot that vocals are delivered in Baroi's native tongue. The emotional impact is conveyed by context and dynamic, which veers from the lovelorn plea of "Tor Hashite (Will Sing In Melody)" with its stately pace and Fripp-like sustain, to the optimistic electronic ethno-funk of "Aei Kotha (My Last Words)". While remaining true to its Asian roots this album never strays too far from a contemporary breakbeat or pulsing dancefloor vibe, giving it a perfect balance between east and west that welcomes all listeners. You too, dear listener, will come to love it as a friend."Digital release only on the first of September 2014.Original cover:

Saturday, August 23, 2014

ORT009 : Marc Ducret - Teun Verbruggen - Nate Wooley / The Evil Art Contest :Reuniting half of the BOAT members project, The Evil Art Contest sees Marc, Teun and Nate going a bit further in their improvisations. It's amazing since every track seems like they were carefully writen before. The confrontations between the guitar of Marc, the trumpet of Nate and the drumming of Teun never sounded better... Impro at her best ever!

Sunday, August 17, 2014

ODG027 : Robert Edwin / Telewaves ( Messy Waves and Teleport Albums & Bonuses ) :"The first time I encountered Robert via My Space, I remember starting to jump on my chair and go crazy for the next three minutes! Then I relaxed and started to listen carefully to his amazing music and discovered more than just a few beats. Every time I felt a bit blue, I played his energetic music which gave me the punch I needed to enjoy the rest of the day.One could relate to his music as Godzilla meeting a punk band playing Yellow Magic Orchestra music at full speed, thought on his second album, Robert started to enjoy playing more lazy beats and chill out music. The O.V. N. I. bonus track on cd1 is still part of his first crazy beats, while the 4 bonus tracks on cd2 were written specially for this compilation and are a reflection of his late mood.Tetsuya Owagaya aka Robert Edwin (a combination of the names of his two beloved tortoises) is now more into drawings and creating various objects.I thought it was time to rediscover this fabulous artist and friend!" - Alinovsky, August 2014.

"Robert Edwin was born in Shizuoka, Japan at the end of 1973, and has lived in that area for most of his adult life. His first introduction to music came at the age of 5, when he was encouraged by his parents to take up piano lessons. Although a skilled pupil, the piano was not where his musical interests would ultimately lay. He played until the age of 9, and then took a hiatus from this particular instrument. However the exposure and training that he received during this time grew inside his mind until the age of 17, when he bought his first electric guitar. Inspired by the artists seen on MTV rather than the music that was being enjoyed locally, Robert began to develop the keen and unique musical vision that was soon to be his. When one hears a Robert Edwin song, the first thing that comes to mind is the individuality that is present in the music. It is not the same old repetitive rehashing of old ideas that is so often heard these days. It is the creative work of someone who truly understands what music should be all about, and it is obvious that the music is coming from the soul of the musician, not just the hands or head. Although not a member of a band, Robert has undertaken many musical projects with several musicians throughout the world, and has an incredible ability to adapt his sound and ideas, to seamlessly blend his vision with those of others. Truly a one of a kind individual, who follows his musical inspiration wherever it leads, Robert Edwin is the kind of gifted artist that understands what music is supposed to be about. True feeling from the heart, translated into soul moving sounds. Robert achieves this and much more with his art." - written by 444.Album Review for Messy Waves:

"Confusing" and "frantic" are not generally adjectives that figure prominently in a positive review, but they're attributes that work well to describe the really pretty engaging music of Japanese producer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Robert Edwin. This is his first full-length release, and you can tell it's the work of a singles artist: stylistically it's all over the map, the common feature that binds the tracks together being a sort of all-purpose sonic adventurousness that leads him equally willingly into house, punk, hip-hop, prog rock, and avant pop territories. Not everything is brilliant, but the high points are seriously impressive: the claustrophobic "From Moomin Valley," which sounds like a collaboration between John Zorn and Birdsongs of the Mesozoic; the startlingly tuneful and fun "My World"; the hip-hoppy "One" and "Tisei"; the frenetic "Shake on It." The less successful moments vary in quality from slightly tedious ("Out of Body Experience") to rather wanky and self-indulgent (the unforgivably proggy "Spot On"), but even when he fails he generally does so in ways that are genuinely interesting to hear.

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

ORT008 : Teun Verbruggen - Trevor Dunn / Department of Entomology :No need to present you the fabulous bass player Trevor Dunn who came to prominence in the 1990s with the experimental band Mr. Bungle. He has since worked in an array of musical styles, notably with singer and Mr. Bungle co-founder Mike Patton and with saxophonist/composer John Zorn.Teun Verbruggen on drums and electronics is probably one of the most talented and prolific drummer in Belgium, always trying harder to bring his drumming on a different level to create something new.Both players have meet on numerous occasions since a few years in different bands, trio, quartet, sextet and it was logical that at some point they would try a duo.So here it is: the encounter of both natural talents playing and improvising in total freedom.The result? An extraordinary and emotionally score of unprovable music! Enjoy!

Sunday, August 10, 2014

WXII stands for field recordings in Flanders places from World War one.

Since 2012, Yves Bondue, Peter Paelinck and Luc Vanhoucke didn't stop visiting the Flanders fields where so many tragic battles killed so many during World War one.

They wanted to capture the sounds and images that the country provokes by itself, evaporating some kind of music from the soil.

They allowed themselves to be dominated by the different landscapes, almost surrendering their multiple instruments to the environment. They had to completely forgot the way they used to play and developed new habits and a musical language in direct consonance with the surrounding elements.

During the year 2013, they recorded one track each month in a particular place that they had chosen and released an album with the material and pictures they had collected.

In 2014, they decided to continue their project, invading new places.

This recording is from March 2014, in a WW1 bunker in Ledegem.

The players use the sound around them to improvise with various instruments. It's not them who command to the nature, but the nature which command to them... This leaves space and time to built uncommon music. It's ambient with mystery!

In Heaven is a music collective guided by its mentor, Mon-sieur Whiteman. Dominique Van Cappellen-Waldock joins him on this debut e.p. ‘Lions Are Eternal’. She is a pythia in several bands such as Baby Fire, Keiki, and recently, von Stroheim. She has also worked with Eugene Robinson (Oxbow), Doug Scharin (Codeine, June of 44...), Joe Goldring (Swans, Enablers...) and Eve Libertine (Crass). Her lyrics evoke love stories gone sour. Hearts are broken, as well as necks. We bathe in a suffocating film noir atmosphere. In Heaven’s music captures the chill of stormy weather, in- terspersed with brief sunny spells. Close your eyes and ima- gine Nick Cave kissing Beth Gibbons while Angelo Badalamenti’s strange sounds form shadows on the walls. And if you can? Welcome in heaven...

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Third in a chronological series of 11 digital only remastered releases (6 solo (5 augmented with bonuses, lives and remixes), 1 duo, 1 unreleased duo and 3 pots-pourris (with absolutely every tunes possible ever recorded by Pierre and never released)) and coming at the pace of one every month is the fabulous third solo album from Pierre Vervloesem: Chef-d'Oeuvre (1999).Review by Dave Lynch in All Music:After Home Made, Pierre Vervloesem's high-energy solo debut from 1994, the X-Legged Sally guitarist maintained some of his experimental tendencies but moved even closer to unadulterated hard rock and metal on his 1996 follow-up, Fiasco. However, anyone thinking that Vervloesem was headed toward the mainstream would be startled by the craziness of Chef-d'Oeuvre; he lets his avant-garde tendencies come fully to the fore on this third release, from 1999. Various musicians participate here and there across the CD's 15 tracks, but some of the most impressive stuff is multi-tracked by Vervloesem alone on Atari guitar, as well as various presumed non-Atari guitars and bass, with digital editing by Vincent Debongnie, Marc Doutrepont, or Vincent Debast. This is the kind of music - "dense music" as stated several places on the CD packaging - that can only be produced through the wonders of modern technology, and can be compared to Frank Zappa's Jazz from Hell album, Zappa's 1986 release recorded on a Synclavier synthesizer. "Nerve 1" is particularly noteworthy in this regard, as the sounds of keyboards, strings, bass, tuned percussion, drums, and assorted clatter combine in an extended episodic chamber symphony filled with Zappa-esque motifs; yet, it was all performed by Vervloesem on Atari guitar with Debast handling the digital editing chores. Chef-d'Oeuvre makes abrupt jumpcuts all over the musical map, with dub experiments, space rock interludes, electro beats, and freeform squelch and skronk punctuating the proceedings. And Vervloesem's skewed sense of humor is fully intact, as demonstrated by the hilarious and manic cover of Stevie Wonder's smash hit "I Wish" and such titles as "The People Under the Floor Tom" and "Hitler's Horrible Ohio Holiday," the latter a multi-sectioned yet concise funk workout combining digital soundscaping and synthetic beats with the real drums of somebody named MickeyMouser. On Home Made and Fiasco, Vervloesem was a rocker first and avant-gardist second; those two elements of his musical personality seem reversed here. Any of his albums are worth investigating (although hard to find), but if you're in the mood for sonic adventures and even outrageousness, Chef-d'Oeuvre is a good place to start. And after reedist/bandleader Peter Vermeersch, an on-again, off-again collaborator with Vervloesem since the early days of X-Legged Sally, was MIA on Fiasco, it's nice to see him back in the credits again on Chef-d'Oeuvre. He's right there on the sixth track, "Typical," credited with..."nothing." Well, perhaps his presence was felt.
Digital release only on the 4th of August 2014.

About Off

Off is a Belgian based label founded by Alain Lefebvre in 2007.
If you want to download, click on any Bandcamp buttons in the 'Listen and download' page. For the rest, just click on the name of the provider you want to buy from in each Believe player under the album you want to download.
If you want the real thing, you will find a BUY button linked to Paypal at the end of each cd presentation. You can also go on the Catalogue page and click on the cd you want to discover. You will find again the BUY button at the bottom of the page. Or go on the Shop page then just go to paypal.com and order at:
order@stilll.org , just leave a comment with which cds you want.